The grand old man of General Motors, Charles F. Kettering (1876-1958), once said, “Change is the only thing that has brought progress.” I have no doubts that this is true, but change can also be very painful. It is however, the only constant in the universe, apart from the love of God, and we can choose to embrace it or resist it and be swept away by the rising tide.

As we look to an uncertain future, the experts have been so bold as to publish lists of various changes that loom on the horizon. I would like to share one such list with you today and see if you agree or disagree. There is one thing for sure, if these changes take place as predicted, they are going to disrupt the lives of millions of people, not only here in America but all across the world. There is no certain order but here are some of the changes that are predicted to come true.

No. 1: The Post Office. The US Postal System is so deeply mired in financial troubles there is probably no way to sustain it over the long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive.

No. 2: The Check. Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with the checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.

No. 3: The Newspaper. (Ouch) The younger generation simply doesn’t read the newspaper, especially the printed edition. As for reading the newspaper online, get ready to pay for it. There is much more to follow on this.

No. 4: The Book. I have said many times that I will never give up on the physical book that I can hold in my hands and turn the literal pages. However, when you consider that the cost of an online book is about half that of a real book and you think of the convenience, you can see this coming true, especially when you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book. Soon we will forget that we are holding a gadget instead of a book. P.S. My head librarian friend, Tina, says not in our lifetime. Is she right?

No. 5: The Land Line Telephone. We see this already happening, especially when you try to find someone listed in the telephone directory. Most people keep the old “land line” simply because they have always had it and even here change is coming, especially when you can call the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.

No. 6: Music. Now I am not into music, as many are, but the music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading, it’s the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem (they say).

No. 7: Television. That is hard to imagine but revenues to the networks are down dramatically, and not just because of the economy. Millions of people are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers.

No. 8: The “Things That You Own.” They say we will still have most of the things we have had in our lives but will not own them. You just pay a monthly fee and “bingo” there it is.

No. 9: Joined Handwriting. How many schools do you know that still teach cursive? This is because nearly everything is done on the computer or keyboard of some type.

No. 10: Privacy. That’s gone. There are cameras on the street, in buildings and built into your computer and cell phone. But don’t worry, because they will still try to get you to buy something else. Welcome to the real world.